


mellifluous

by ghostofcepheus



Series: fantasy series [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Knight Oikawa, M/M, Poetry, Soft boys feeling love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26906470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostofcepheus/pseuds/ghostofcepheus
Summary: There is something oddly comforting—and alluring, Tooru thinks to himself as he gazes softly at the prince across from him—in the way Shouyou softly recites poetry in afternoon glow.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Oikawa Tooru
Series: fantasy series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/381577
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	mellifluous

**Author's Note:**

> another sweet oihina writing practice I wanted to post. :>
> 
> my inspiration was mellifluous-(of a voice or words) sweet or musical; pleasant to hear.

There is something oddly comforting—and alluring, Tooru thinks to himself as he gazes softly at the prince across from him—in the way Shouyou softly recites poetry in afternoon glow.

He sits in the library of the castle, carefully fingering through aged papers around him, the entire table taken over for his own literary pleasure and entertainment. The royal library has always served as a sanctuary to Hinata throughout the trying times in his life; from the floating of the dust rising from ancient leather books to the soft sunlight filtering from the colored-glass windows, it was his refuge that nestled him away from reality. Books distracted the orange-haired prince from confronting his mother’s death, his father’s drunkenness, and the harem of mistresses leaving his father’s chambers every night. Books allowed him to grow, to strengthen, to build a wall around him that no other could ever enter.

When they first met as children, Tooru originally thought the introverted prince was nothing more than stuck-up and privileged for having the luxury of reading fairy tales all day. His parents were nothing more than peasant farmers who struggled with each harvest to survive and persist; it was only after his morning chores on the field was he finally allowed to go to the mercenary guild. Oikawa had never had the time or the money to learn even the basic alphabet—reading books didn’t help bring bread for his family or did his kingdom any honor. The strength he gained from being a mercenary for local merchants, the respect he earned from the older men around his for bringing in his bounty—that was true strength.

And for that, he despised being the spiny, frail prince’s guardian. Oikawa detested standing around outside of the prince’s room throughout his childhood during the war; Hinata never uttered even a word to him and ignored his presence, and he laid in the comfort of his room with his books held above him as he laid on his bed, swinging his legs without a care in the world.

Tooru thought of the day the neighboring families woefully send their young boys off to the war, only to never see them again. And for what? For a prince who sits in his room, lazing away for soldiers who throw their lives away for him?

It wasn’t until a thundering, pouring day that the Shouyou finally speaks and invites the knight to sit with him. He built the first bridge between them, a bridge of words, explanations, and understanding between two very different people. It takes words—and much patience and time— to wear down each other’s walls. The brown-haired knight doesn’t understand the scrawl in the books or some of the words that come out of Shouyou’s mouth. He frequently has to remind the prince to slow down, to wait for him, to repeat until he understands and reaches the world Shouyou is in.

Within the space of the library, Oikawa and Hinata explore the worlds once out of their reach together. In each phrase Tooru hears the prince reads, in each word of courage and chivalry and heart ache that floats into the space between them, the royal knight also finds a new home. He finds homes where his mother is healthy and happy and homes where he helps his grandmother buy all the supplies she needs to make dessert. The royal guard finds houses where his family is secure in and knowledge sharper than swords he can use to fend for himself.

The orange-haired man shows him all of the beauty he could never see in this world: the beauty in oceans, the mist in mountains, and companionship. They speak of worlds never imagined under the hush of the night in the privacy of the prince’s chambers, worlds they could only hope they could one day and explore together. Oikawa finds honor in words because it was not brute strength and steel that brought down his walls—it was words and patience that could only come from reading. It is words that help him find his best friend, that teaches another perspective to look at the world in, that builds a home he finally feels stable in.

Through words and dust and sunlight, he finds a home in Hinata.

**Author's Note:**

> like my writing? feel free to send me a cute message and a coffee! all money goes to helping out a brown indigenous femme c:
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/sunrot


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